Synthetic red dyestuffs such as F.D.&C. #2 and F.D.&C. #40 have heretofore been found to be unsuitable for use in conjunction with foodstuffs, e.g. ice creams and maraschino cherries. The present invention provides a natural red dyestuff composition having the same intensity and quality of red color as the heretofore-known synthetic red dyes; and with colorfastness and brightness comparable to the previously-known synthetic dyestuffs.
The use of combinations of caramel color and other dyestuffs has heretofore been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,499, issued on July 1, 1958. U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,499, provides a dry food composition comprising caramel color and/or a certified dye, e.g. amaranth F.D.&C. #2, which produces, on mixing with water, a product in which the color is indicated to be thoroughly and evenly distributed throughout the mass of the hydrated product. The object of U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,499 was to provide a method of coloring food products of the type which are sold as dry powders that are made ready for use by the addition of water, with the color being primarily provided by caramel coloring. The ratio of the caramel color to other certified dyes as disclosed in the Examples of U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,499 is shown to be about 80:1. U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,499 does not provide a composition or method for augmenting or enhancing or intensifying the red color of a natural red dyestuff, however.
Natural red dyestuffs and methods for extracting same from plants are well documented in the Prior Art as follows:
(i) Pages 45, 175 and 176 of the text -Nature's Colors: Dyes From Plants" Grae, MacMillan Publishing Company (1974). PA0 (ii) Pages 70, and 85 of the book "Dye Plants and Dyeing-A Hand Book" (Special Printing of "Plants and Gardens" Volume 20, #3, 1964 (Brooklyn Botanic Garden). PA0 (iii) U.S. Pat. No. 207,271, issued on Aug. 20, 1878 (Title: "Improvement in Processes of Treating Beet Roots for the Manufacture of Sugar"). PA0 (iv) U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,362, issued on Sept. 11, 1951 (Title: "Method of Extracting Pigments from Plants"). PA0 (v) U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,588, issued on July 16, 1957 (Process for the Production of Color Bodies from Fresh Vegetables). PA0 (i) U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,261, issued on Jan. 15, 1952 (Caramel Color Manufacture); PA0 (ii) U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,703, issued on May 9, 1967 (Title: Methods of Producing Substitute for Truffles); (See particularly Column 2, Lines 34-37); PA0 (iii) U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,576, issued on Sept. 8, 1953 (Title: Caramel Color Compositions). PA0 (i) Food Research 25 (3) 429 (1960) (Peterson and Josalyn, "The Red Pigment of the Root of the Beet(beta vulgaris) as a Pyrrole Compound"); PA0 (ii) Journal of Food Science, Vol. 41, 78 (1976) Futher (Adams, et al, "Production of a Beta Cyanine Concentrate by Fermentation of Red Beet Juice with Candida Utilis").
As specified in "Natural Coloring Matters", Mayer, ACS Monograph, 1943, the pigment of red cabbage (Brassica oleracea) is the anthocyanin derivative, rubrobrassicin. As stated in Kirk and Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Second Edition, Volume 10, Page 7, anthocyanins are used in foods as natural coloring matters. The nature of the extraction processes is further disclosed in Hayashi's Chapter on Anthocyanins in "The Chemistry of Flavanoid Compounds", Geissman, The MacMillan Company, 1962, pages 252-255. Recent developments concerning the chemistry and stability of anthocyanins is also disclosed in a paper delivered by F. J. Francis at the March 1977 American Chemical Society Symposium at New Orleans, La.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,243,042, issued on Oct. 16, 1917 covers the production of dyestuffs by extracting coloring materials of banana class plant substances.
Von Georgievics, "Chemisty of Dyestuffs", Scott, Greenwood and Company, London, 1903, at pages 361-386 (Dyestuffs of Vegetable Origin) sets forth various vegetable dyes and methods for producing same.
Betanine, the red beet dye having the emperical formula C.sub.24 H.sub.26 O.sub.13 N.sub.2, is a betalaine which although being a red dye, forms a glistening bronze green crystal which may be degraded to glucose and Betanidine hydrochloride, C.sub.18 H.sub.17 O.sub.8 NCl, an amorphous purple material with a green sheen which is very sensitive towards oxygen. Its appearance is described on page 232 of the Mayer Monograph "Natural Coloring Matters" ACS Monograph Series, 1943. Its chemical structure is set forth Mabry et al, Tetrahedron 23 3111 (1967). In addition, biosynthesis of betalaines is discussed by Dunkelblum et al, Helv. Chim. Acta, Vol. 55, Fasc. 2 (1972) 642.
Caramel color has been cited in the prior art as a coloring agent for food stuffs, thusly:
Nothing in the aforementioned prior art suggests either explicitly or implicitly the instant invention.